Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Each week, KHN's Alana Pockros finds interesting reads from around the Web.

The Wall Street Journal:
The Double Mastectomy Rebellion
Researchers have tracked sharp increases in double mastectomies, even among women at low risk for cancer to develop in the other breast and for whom the radical procedure offers no additional survival benefits. Doctors call it a profound shift in the prevailing medical culture and some have begun to question whether the field should reconsider performing what amounts to an amputation with little evidence to support its efficacy. (Lucette Lagnado, 7/10)

The Atlantic:
Even Nuns Aren't Exempt From Obamacare's Birth-Control Mandate
They’re the perfect plaintiffs: elderly nuns who wear habits and care for the poor and elderly. When the Little Sisters of the Poor filed a complaint against the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate in 2013, they joined a host of other religious charities and colleges that claimed the law placed a burden on their free exercise of their religion. But the sisters stood out: If nuns claim a law violates their conscience, who’s to tell them they’re wrong? (Emma Green, 7/14)

The New York Times:
The New Child Abuse Panic
Few things are tougher for a parent than dealing with a child’s serious medical condition, particularly if it is complicated and hard to diagnose. The parent has to make hard choices about treatment, navigating conflicting advice from doctors or even rejecting one doctor’s opinion and seeking another. Recently, the situation of these parents has gotten even harder. Some doctors and hospitals have begun to level a radical new charge — “medical child abuse” — against parents who, they say, get unnecessary or excessive treatment for their kids. That this care is usually ordered by other doctors hasn’t protected parents from these loaded accusations. (Maxine Eichner, 7/11)

The New York Times:
Unraveling The Relationship Between Climate Change And Health
Is climate change a serious threat to human health?Simple logic would suggest the answer is yes, a point that the Obama administration is using to build support for the president’s effort to make climate change a centerpiece of his final months in office.
A White House report listed deepening risks. Asthma will worsen, heat-related deaths will rise, and the number and traveling range of insects carrying diseases once confined to the tropics will increase. But the bullet points convey a certainty that many scientists say does not yet exist. Scientists agree that evidence is growing that warmer weather is having an effect on health, but they say it is only one part of an immensely complex set of forces that are influencing health. (Sabrina Tavernise, 7/13)

Vox:
The Real Story Behind Obamacare’s Double-Digit Rate Hikes
The headlines about "Obamacare's "skyrocketing" premiums are pretty much everywhere right now. The Wall Street Journal ran a recent op-ed titled "The Unaffordable Care Act." Slate asserted "Obamacare's Bill is Due." And, in its typically sober headline format, the New York Times noted "Health Insurance Companies Seek Big Rate Increases for 2016." All of these articles make a similar argument: This is the year that Obamacare premiums go up. Way up. Most of them cite a recently approved 25 percent rate hike for the largest Obamacare plan in Oregon, Moda Health. And they look at similarly big increases that insurers in North Carolina and Tennessee have proposed. Are these double-digit rate increases the new normal? Not exactly. (Sarah Kliff, 7/15)

The New York Times:
Modern Doctors’ House Calls: Skype Chat And Fast Diagnosis
The same forces that have made instant messaging and video calls part of daily life for many Americans are now shaking up basic medical care. Health systems and insurers are rushing to offer video consultations for routine ailments, convinced they will save money and relieve pressure on overextended primary care systems in cities and rural areas alike. And more people like Ms. DeVisser, fluent in Skype and FaceTime and eager for cheaper, more convenient medical care, are trying them out. ... But telemedicine is facing pushback from some more traditional corners of the medical world. Medicare, which often sets the precedent for other insurers, strictly limits reimbursement for telemedicine services out of concern that expanding coverage would increase, not reduce, costs. Some doctors assert that hands-on exams are more effective and warn that the potential for misdiagnoses via video is great. (Abby Goodnough, 7/11)

This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.

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